Economic Review, Vol. 61 No. 5-6, 2010.
Case report
IS THE SPECTRE OF SOCIALISM HAUNTING EUROPE AND THE WORLD AGAIN? (IS SOCIALISM THE WISHFULL AND REAL ALTERNATIVE TO THE NEOLIBERAL CAPITALISM?)
Milan Mesarić
Abstract
The crumbling of the Soviet Union, the breakdown of the Warsaw Pact, and the “Communist” order in the Eastern European countries during the period 1989-1990 marked the beginning of a new era in more recent world history, one marked by the political and ideological victory of neoliberal capitalism and the global hegemony of the United States of America. At the time, many believed this to represent the final historic victory of the capitalist socioeconomic system, having proven its superiority and irreplaceability for civilization. However, just one decade later, the immanent structural weakness and contradictions of the capitalist system have risen to the surface in dramatic fashion, intensified by its radical, neoliberal variant, which has removed all restrictions on the unabashed impetus toward profit maximization and the accumulation of wealth. The rate of property and income polarization has increased, both on the national as well as international level, the global concentration and power of financial capital, as well as its speculative nature, have been strengthened, and the devastation of the natural environment has continued with possibly catastrophic consequences. On the other hand, we are beginning to see the end of American economic and political global hegemony. The spectacular unbroken thirtyyear-long economic rise of China (followed by that of India) and the soon-anticipated transfer of global economic power to Asia herald the end of a global superpower’s dominance, the birth of a new multilateral international order, and thus also the end of neoliberal capitalism’s reign. Those new tendencies gave impetus to various initiatives for transforming the existing neo-liberal model into one of “moral”, “socially responsible” capitalism – “capitalism with a human face”. At the same time, discussions were revived regarding the relevance of socialist ideas under the new circumstances of the 21st century. The goal of this paper is to re-examine that two-centuries-old idea that has so far not had much luck in being achieved. To that end, the evolution and characteristics of various socialist doctrines are analyzed, an attempt is made to define the essence of an authentic socialist vision, after which the failed application of socialist projects in several of the most important countries and the reasons behind those failures are examined, ending with an inquiry into the prospects for achieving that intended more humane, just, and functional society in a contemporary, post-industrial, information-based, globalized world in which the dominant factor is still financial and corporate capital. Discussion of the mentioned topics has led the author to the following conclusions: a) the capitalist system has exhausted its historical dynamic and progressive functions, and, due to the innate weaknesses and contradictions that its fundamentalist, neo-liberal variant has brought to a critical level, has become a hindrance to the further advancement of civilization; b) for that reason, next to come will be either the transformation of the capitalist system into a social, functional, and ecologically sustainable model, or its replacement with a new, socialist system ruled by equality, justice, tolerance, and community, as well as the dominance of the power and interest of work over the interests of capital; c) contemporary technological advancement, along with corresponding institutional solutions, allow not only the basic but also higher cultural requirements of all people to be met, and enable work to be transformed from an existential essentiality to a natural need; d) however, achieving this new society of freedom, equality, and harmony depends not only on radical institutional conversion, i.e., changing the relationship between economic and political power as well as social relationships, but primarily on changing people’s individual and collective onsciousness, and elevating that consciousness to a higher cognitive, humane, and ethical plane by overcoming egocentrism in favor of empathy, tolerance, and community; e) despite efforts to reform the capitalist system through acknowledging ethical, social, and ecological requirements, that system will sooner or later be replaced by a new socio-economic model that will be based on a humanist philosophy instead of the utilitarian philosophy that is the hallmark of capitalism.
Keywords
breakdown of “statist socialism”; triumph of neoliberalism; global hegemony of the USA; worldwide crisis of the capitalist system; multilateral international order; “moral capitalism”; democratic socialism
Hrčak ID:
56582
URI
Publication date:
20.6.2010.
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